Santiago de Cuba

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed15% flat on gross for non-permanent residents; 15%–50% for permanent residents

Ley 113 counts as income obtained in Cuba everything generated by legal or economic activity carried out in Cuba, whatever the nationality or residence of the people involved and wherever the contract was signed (Article 8). Read literally, a salary or fees for work you physically do from Cuba are Cuban-source even when the employer or client is abroad. A non-permanent resident then owes 15% of the gross with no deductions (Articles 25 and 27). In practice the law collects that 15% as a final withholding by Cuban payers (Article 33), and non-permanent residents are excused from filing an annual return (Article 36). I found no published procedure for a foreigner paid from abroad to pay it, and ONAT's website was unreachable on 2026-10-27, so how this works in practice is unclear. Immigration law is the bigger constraint. Tourists may only do tourism activities, and from November 2026 temporary residents need a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to do professional or work activity of any kind (Ley 173, Articles 46–47). A permanent resident's worldwide earnings are taxed on the progressive scale (see top rate). Ley 113 yields to double tax treaties (Article 15), so check whether your home country has one with Cuba.

On the nomad visa

Cuba has no digital nomad or remote-work visa. Most visitors come on a tourist visa (tourist card). Under the new migration regulations (Decreto 136, Articles 71–72), which take effect around 1 November 2026, tourists may stay 90 days, extendable by another 90, then by 30 days at a time up to one year from entry. Tourists may only carry out tourism activities. As non-permanent residents, they are taxed only on Cuban-source income, so foreign investment income is untaxed, but work done while physically in Cuba is Cuban-source on paper (see remote work).

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

Not taxed

Non-permanent residents are taxed only on income obtained in Cuba (Ley 113, Articles 19 and 25). Dividends, interest, capital gains, rent and pensions from foreign sources are therefore untaxed for tourists and temporary residents. Permanent residents are taxed on these from any country. The tax base is income after a yearly exemption of CUP 39,120 and allowed expenses, and the progressive 15%–50% scale applies (Articles 17, 20, 22 and 26.1). Some income is exempt for everyone: family remittances from abroad, retirement and social-security pensions, and interest on savings accounts in Cuban banks (Article 18). The pension exemption does not say whether foreign pensions are covered, and I found no official guidance on that point. Selling a home or a vehicle in Cuba is taxed at 4% of the price, or 8% from the second sale in the same year, with no deductions (Articles 42 and 45). Partners in Cuban small and medium firms (mipymes) are taxed on dividends on a separate 3%–20% scale (Article 26.2). Foreign-currency amounts are converted to Cuban pesos at the official rate (Article 29). The Banco Central de Cuba publishes three rate segments, and its site showed CUP 754 per US dollar for 28 October 2026 without saying which segment that was.

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth taxInheritance tax applies

Cuba has no net wealth tax. The Impuesto sobre Transmisión de Bienes y Herencias taxes inheritances and legacies of assets located in Cuba for anyone, Cuban or foreign. Only Cuban citizens with permanent residence are also taxed on inherited or gifted assets abroad (Ley 113, Article 198). Each heir's share is taxed on Annex 3 scales: spouses, parents and children pay 2%–25% above the first CUP 1,000, siblings 4%–35%, and more distant heirs and unrelated people up to 65%. Tax paid abroad can be credited (Article 207). Registered transfers of property, such as a home sale, cost the buyer 4% of the value (Article 205), and the seller owes 4% income tax on the price (Article 42). The law has a 2% yearly tax on owning homes and vacant lots (Articles 161–167), but for permanent residents it applies only once a yearly budget law activates it (Special Provision Six). The law does not say whether it is collected from non-resident foreign owners.

Tax resident after

home or ties test

Top income tax rate

50%

When you become tax resident

Cuba has no day-count test. Tax status follows immigration status: holders of permanent residence (residencia permanente), Cuban or foreign, are taxed on worldwide income, and everyone else only on income obtained in Cuba (Ley 113, Articles 19, 20 and 25). A tourist or temporary resident therefore stays outside the worldwide net however long they stay. Under the new Ley 173 de Extranjería, a foreigner can apply for permanent residence by proving assets abroad or in a Cuban bank, professional skills and the means to settle, capital to invest, or links to a state or private economic sector (Article 22). Ley 173 was published on 5 May 2026 and takes effect 180 days later, around 1 November 2026.

Top income tax rate

Havana (no local income tax, so the rate is the same nationwide): 50% on annual taxable income above CUP 50,000, after the CUP 39,120 exemption and allowed expenses. The scale is 15% up to CUP 10,000, then 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% (Ley 113, Article 26.1). At the rate the Banco Central showed on 28 October 2026, CUP 50,000 is about US$66. The scale applies to permanent residents' declared income. Salaries are taxed by monthly withholding under separate rules: Special Provision Six makes salary tax for permanent residents depend on each year's budget law, and I could not check the current salary scale in an official text. Non-permanent residents pay a flat 15% on Cuban-source income (Article 27).